September
Welcome Week will likely be a very different experience for you this time. You may have volunteered to help new students or might be representing your Club or Society recruiting new members. You might have decided to attend the events and activities. Whatever you choose to do, there is plenty going on and lots of opportunities to get involved. If you didn't join any Clubs, Societies or volunteering programmes in your first year, you might want to do so now.
You may have sorted your accommodation over the summer, but if not the LSESU Advice team and University of London Housing Services (ULHS) can give you advice and answer any questions you might have. ULHS can do contract checks and have a bank of available properties to search through.
Opportunities for paid work are available all over London. The School and Students' Union will also recruit for student staff in Michaelmas Term.
If you have a disability and haven't done so already, get in touch with the Disability and Wellbeing Service to discuss adjustments and plans for your study in your second year. If you were in touch last year, make sure the team have the most up to date information ahead of the new term.
October, November, December
You should now have a full timetable and understand the deadlines for any work you'll be asked to submit.
You'll meet with your Academic Mentor and can book appointments with any of LSE's services if you're interested in extra support in building your skills. LSE LIFE and LSE Careers run full programmes and it's likely your department will also have extra curricular activities you can attend and your teachers will run Office Hours.
You may decide to run as your course's Course Rep, and if elected, you'll attend training during this period. The first Staff Student Liasion Committee meetings of the year will take place in this period.
Larger companies offering internships will start to post them from September, with deadlines varying. Many expect to fill their places for the next summer by the December and January before. If you're hoping to do a summer internship, do plenty of research to make sure you have time to prepare good applications for the ones that most appeal to you. Other opportunities will come up through the spring but you should be prepared if you're looking to work for one of the bigger firms. LSE Careers are there to support you with any questions you may have.
If you've been considering Study Abroad, you should find out more about your options and start preparing yourself to apply in this term.
If you're taking January exams, you'll receive your timetable as soon as it's ready and can start planning your revision timetable and plans for the break. Even if you have revision or assignments to do during the break, remember to schedule in time to relax, catch up with friends and family and reflect on your first term at LSE.
You may feel like the reading, assignments and studying should (and could) take up all of your time, but there's still plenty of time left at LSE for you to explore which activities benefit you, and which ones don't. Remember though, you can't do everything all the time and you don't need to feel pressured to get involved with things just because your peers are doing them.